Americans, Willing to Start Business in Thailand; Here’s a Brief Digest on US-Thai Treaty of Amity for YOU!

If you are an American and thinking of investing in Thailand you must have heard about the US-Thai Treaty of Amity. Yes, it is this treaty that will make our investment plan in Thailand easier to materialize. Signed on 29th May 1996, the treaty ensures special rights and benefits to the US citizens when it comes to establishing their own business in Thailand. The Amity Treaty aims at helping an American start business in Thailand while providing a lot of advantages. One of the main benefits is that the US investors can run businesses for corporations as well as individuals. Particularly, the Treaty of Amity in Thailand provides the two major trade benefits explained below;

The treaty allows the American companies to hold the maximum shares of a company, representative office in Thailand or branch office.

Similarly, the American companies can start their business same as the Thai companies. That way you will be exempted from the majority of the restrictions of the foreign investment.

However, as an American you are prohibited from engaging in the below-mentioned activities;

• Transportation
• Exploitation of land and other natural resources; and
• Domestic trade
• Newspaper publishing
• Rearing livestock
• Forestry
• Extracting Thai Medicinal Herbs

When it comes to investments, an American citizen should have at least a minimum 51% shares. Also, the majority of the directors must be Americans. Even though treaty-protected companies are allowed to enjoy some advantages under the US-Thai Amity Treaty, they must satisfy the minimum capital requirement that is stated under the Foreign Business Act.

If the business is not FBA restricted, then the capital requirement is THB 2 million (minimum), whereas if the business wants to obtain the FBA license then it may have to pay a minimum THB 3 million.

Considering the advantages the US citizens have over other foreigners, a lot of Americans are opening company in Thailand. And if you know the laws right you can soon have your own company set up there. As for the Treaty of Amity certification procedure, it is carried out in three phases. The first phase involves filing the document, the second phase is obtaining a certificate from the CS office and the third phase is all about applying to the Ministry of Commerce. It will take somewhere around four to six weeks to get over with the procedure.

Aside, you should have all the documents to start the procedure. Typically, succeeding in business in Thailand isn’t a cake walk. Sure, the costs are lower, but then again it comes with red tape. So, before investing, speak to our legal experts, they can help you find the right answers to your query.